It was a turbulent night. The
moon was a waxing sliver of light, spangling the restless trees with
silver. Clouds scudded across the sky. The wind moaned through the
convoluted hillsides, whipping branches and bushes in its fury.

The branches, partially denuded of
their leaves by the torrent of wind, reached out like gnarled fingers to
pluck at the garments of the running man. They slowed him as he
tried desperately to push through them.

Had anyone been watching, they would
have seen that the man was terrified! His eyes rolled and searched
the semi-darkness behind him. No one was watching. No one
saw the great, dark shape that hovered over him.

The man looked up and saw the
thing. It was large and black and had eyes of fire that burned
into the man's face. One could have seen his features reflecting
the flickering light of those crimson orbs.

The thing hung motionless for a
second; then, with fiendish intent, it dived at the fleeing man.

With a screech, he threw himself off
the side of an undercut hill. Cascading dirt and rock rolled with
him to the bottom of the cut.

The lights of a town twinkled in a
nearby valley. If he could make it to the town he would be
safe! He looked at the sky and despaired. The monstrous
black thing had swung around and was between him and the safety of the
houses.

A leathery swishing noise came from
the thing as it came nearer. The sound lent wings to the terrified
man's feet. There was nowhere to go but backwards -- into the
darkness of the forest! He turned and fled!

"Get away from me!"
the man whimpered. "Begone, demon!" He ducked and
ran moaning into the night as the black form dove towards him.

The very wind in the hills seemed to
laugh...a low and wicked laugh.

The man screamed once as the black
form enveloped him. Then, all was silent. The ebon shape
soon floated away into the night sky.

By the time the wolves found the body,
it was cold. They sniffed it once and backed away. This was
unusual, for these scavengers would consume virtually any dead thing
found in the woods. For them to pass up and easy meal was against
all the laws of nature. A woodman watching them would have been
dumbfounded.

The man had almost made it to the
safety of the nearby town before the great ebon shape had caught
him. His body's proximity to civilization was probably why the
corpse was discovered lat the next day by a passing tourist.

The tourist notified the local
constabulary, which in turn notified the central government of the small
Balkan country. By sundown, officials were swarming over the
area. This was not the first time this had happened! There
were several bodies in the local morgue -- all collected within the last
half-year. All were strangers, whose bodies were unclaimed and who
would stay at the morgue until the cases were closed as unsolved and
unsolvable.

The bodies had another thing in common
-- the throat of each had literally been ripped to shreds!

Since the body had been discovered by
a tourist passing through the area, it could not simply be
ignored. The tourist's squawkings had brought scores of concerned
dignitaries from the capitol city.

"Six uff dem...und in less den
haff a year! You see, Countess, ve must really call in help.
This is very, very mysterious und frightening!" The plump,
balding man wiped his brow. He was perspiring even in the cool
evening air of the mountains.

"But...General Tepesh of your own
Militia and his troops have been investigating..."

"Und getting nowheres! Dey
haf been here for at least six months -- und der murders still
happen! Ve need der expert on strangnesses! I haf given it
much thought, und I know just who can do der job! But...he is so
far avay!"

"Not a foreigner, I
hope!" The woman's large, dark eyes became cold.
"All a paid adventurer ever does is exploit the country he pretends
to save!"

"He is an American..."

"Ah! They are the
worst! Surely," the pacing woman said, "Surely there is
another way!"

"No, Madame...it appears ve haf
no udder choice. I vill leaf tomorrow for America, where I will
contact dis person. He has a very goot reputation for solving
vierd mysteries! It is his profession!"

"Humph! And how much will
he demand for these great services? Will you bring someone here to
exploit and bankrupt us?"

"No, no!" The pompous
little man smiled a cherubic smile. "Dis man does not charge
for his services unless people can vell afford to pay. But, since
dis province is fairly vealthy, I vould suspect he vill ask for his
regular fee."

"And that is..."

"Oh, dat ve build a charity
hospital for der poor, und establish a trust fund to see to its
continued maintenance."

The woman's eyebrows shot
skyward. "His USUAL fee...is this?"

"Yes, Madame, he has done this
quite often in various spots around der world. I haf researched
dis man carefully. Belief me, he vill not do our country any
harm."

The woman considered.
"Wilhelm, you know that I am considered a fairly good judge of
human nature...

The man bobbed assent, and the woman continued.

"Let me come with you," she
said, "and meet this...paragon of yours. If he is an
exploiter I shall know it immediately, and we shall look elsewhere for
help. If he is, however, all you seem to think he is, I will offer
him the use of my estate in his investigations. Fair enough?"

"Countess, Countess, dat is vhat
I hoped you vould say!" The little man was overjoyed.

"Very well, but do give me a few
days to find out what I can about this fellow."

"Uff course, uff course! Ve
vill put off goink to America until next veek sometime. I vill
call you about der trip later." He gathered his retinue about
him and departed, having given her the name of the man they were to
contact.

The tall, regal woman in black watched
him go. A tiny frown creased her forehead.

"I am not sure this is
wise," said a silky voice beside her.

"Yes, Radu, I know. I do
not like the idea of bringing in foreigners. They are always
disruptive -- and rarely of any real use! I am, however, rather
intrigued by an adventurer who refuses payment unless it is in the form
of charitable services or institutions!"

"Humph! Is the man an
adventurer or a philanthropist? The two do not seem go go
together. And what does he get out of it? Every man gets
something out of his profession!"

"We shall see, Radu."
The woman was icily serious. "If the Premier is bound and
determined to bring this person here, perhaps it is best that he be
encouraged to use my home as his base of operations. In that way
we can keep an eye on him. Then, we shall see just what kind of
man is this...Doc Savage!"